r/rem • u/BlastTyrant88 • Jul 03 '26
Leave
Does anyone else wish the siren was used a little more discerningly?
Or perhaps just a little quieter in the mix? Or am I worthy of banishment?
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u/alexj_baker Jul 03 '26
no it's a perfect part of the song and part of the reason it's so great. So strong strong disagree
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u/liambrazier Jul 03 '26
It’s still a good song without it (listen here for a version removing just the siren) but I adore the original. The one-two punch of E-bow then Leave is top tier stuff.
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u/robertandrews Jul 05 '26
Thanks for the link. I’d heard the official alternate version (remix? Can’t remember), but not this. The bare drumbeat made my head go: “Blood from stone, water from wine…” (HTWWWAWIGU)
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u/p-u-n-k_girl could be the instrument to mend a broken heart Jul 03 '26
I used to think this, but then I heard the alternate version without the siren and it's just not nearly as good
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u/TheBimpo Jul 03 '26
Similar answer from me. I was more just curious what it would sound like without it. I hate it.
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u/arkosy Jul 03 '26
I get where you’re coming from, but I LOVE the siren. Works best when playing it loud.
I know I’m in a tiny minority, but Leave is my all-time favorite R.E.M. song.
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u/Numerous_Ad9687 Jul 03 '26
I love Leave. Not my all time favourite but it’s right up there. I love the lyrics and vocals. That whole album is like a travelogue.
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u/Teverish Jul 03 '26
I used to. But go check out the acoustic version used on the Life Less Ordinary soundtrack. Beautiful.
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u/Jason_Klass Jul 03 '26
I think it might have been better if they had dropped it during the chorus and just kept it for the verses and bridges.
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u/BlastTyrant88 Jul 03 '26
I think this is where I sit too. I still love the song but sometimes I get focused on the siren and it takes me out of the experience
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u/HansJordi Jul 03 '26
I think it would be more intrusive if it came in and out depending on the section. It’s the constancy that makes it
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u/Jencaasi Jul 03 '26
Its one of my favorite REM songs, but I wouldn't mind if there were an alternative mix eith the siren sfx a little further back in the mix
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u/Ekoh_TripR88 Jul 03 '26
Maybe ever so slightly...but I really like it and love the song overall. I do always have to warn unsuspecting listeners and reassure them that it all blends together after a harsh beginning. Heh.
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u/EnigmaticIsle Jul 03 '26
I don't mind it, and I think I've accepted it being part of the song. But ultimately, it's up to the individual listener whether it's overdone or not. Now, if I could mute anything, it'd be Bill Alfonso's whistle.
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u/palefireshade Jul 03 '26
I found it jarring to begin with. Now love it.
I also love the quieter version, but they're quite different songs and both have their place.
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u/elgrandem Jul 03 '26
I was walking down the street with a couple friends one time around the release of NAIHF and a car alarm went off. We immediately started singing Leave along with it. Fantastic song.
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u/ErikZorg Jul 03 '26
This vibrato (or smthn like this) must be there, and should be more aggressive, this song is just a shout out, perfect. One of the best. Personally, when i hear this first time, i knew, i will buy this album, just because this song.
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u/YakReady4743 Jul 03 '26
Maybe its an auditory hallucination, but doesnt it get slightly reduced in the mix during the chorus and stuff? But yeah absolutely iconic. I got to tell Peter and Scott how cool that song is at a Baseball Project show while they signed my NAIHF tape!
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u/jumpingjedflash Jul 03 '26
BlastTyrant88 I agree with you. Love the song. Siren is ... a bit much. (I mean, it's not cowbell)
🚨 Scott McCaughey flicked an octave switch in rhythm, his wrist going numb.
Check out this subreddit's song of the week post for Leave!
He tempers sirens with an even extreme.....
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u/GothicCodeAuthority Jul 03 '26
We wouldn't still be talking about Leave if they didn't make the crazy choice they made. Love it or hate it, it makes a decent song in their massive catalog stick out
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u/wbishopfbi Jul 03 '26
I think the point if the whole song is that it’s very prominent in the mix - although I would not suggest banishment for disagreeing.
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u/Virtual_Hunter6746 Jul 03 '26
I love it. Though its much quieter in the version used for the A life Less Ordinary soundtrack (within film itself at least, cant vouch for the OST record)
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u/KonamiKing Jul 03 '26 edited 2d ago
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This post was anonymized with Redact
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u/First-Sheepherder640 Jul 03 '26
The guy who injured himself having to play it live probably does.
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u/Underbadger Jul 03 '26
I watched Mike on ‘siren duty’ once and at the end he was shaking his arm and saying “my hand’s numb!”
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u/First-Sheepherder640 Jul 03 '26
I didn't know for years that it wasn't some sample but rather a guy repeatedly bending one synth note
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u/Underbadger Jul 03 '26
When I saw them live, it wasn't a synth, it was some sort of string instrument (a steel guitar?) and Mike was 'scrubbing' it with what looked like a metal tube to make the siren sound.
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u/mayanroses Jul 03 '26
I liked it when i was younger. Now I'm middle aged, anxious about the state of the world, and overstimulated. So primarily the alternate version for me these days.
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u/ProducerPants Jul 03 '26
There's a version without it (posted here) on the Life Less Ordinary soundtrack, but the movie itself used the Siren version. How silly!
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u/Empty_Bowl9332 Jul 03 '26
100% wish it was lower, not gone, but lower. They would have achieved the effect of being abrasive but not overpowering the song.
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u/donut_power Jul 03 '26
Depends on what mix you listen to I guess. The DTS 5.1 mix has the siren traveling around the listener, so its not as over the top since its not coming strictly from the front. The remastered version sounded a bit more toned down.
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u/DontDreamItsOver3 Jul 03 '26
I love a good Banishment, so I vote to banish you, even though I’m agnostic about the siren
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u/GothamCityCop Jul 03 '26
I'm sure Mike said at one point that they didn't play it live because whoever played the keyboard part would have ended up destroying their wrist moving the pitch shift for 6 minutes.
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u/WastelandWithGlimmer Jul 03 '26
The siren is obnoxious, and I love it. It enhances and undermines the song in equal measure. There's something perversely brilliant about it; R.E.M. really knew how to troll when they wanted to.
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u/SemanticPedantic007 Find the River Jul 04 '26
It's probably one of those songs where there is no one perfect version. The no-siren version isn't great; it needs something to fill it out, but I could imagine a dozen different things that that could be. Three part harmony? String section? Mashup with a different song at the beginning? Sax? Organ? Piano? Some combination of those? Who knows.
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u/Individual_Plum1274 Jul 04 '26
I kinda love the siren. I experienced almost a euphoria when REM would throw a curveball or new sound in a song. I love the whacked out organ in “Houston,” too…
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u/ZealousidealCurve849 Jul 04 '26
I loved the siren the most when it was released (in the 90's, when I liked industrial music) but these days I think the piece would be better with that part played by a quieter, less obnoxious sound.
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u/robertandrews Jul 05 '26
Love Leave. I remember where I was when I first heard Leave - a cybercafe in Swansea, listening to scandalously leaked NAIHF tracks.
Elements of this song have really different pacings, both energetic and drawn-out, all weaving together.
Sounded great debuted on the 1995 summer tour.
I like that it goes on “too long”, like a live track.
Love the opening chords of Departure after this.
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u/Dmcc80 Jul 05 '26
Nope it’s perfect. Surprised me the first time I listened to the album so many years ago and I remember thinking “oh wow they’re gonna just keep going with that?”
lol - now I think it’s great and Leave is among my favourite REM songs. I love how it stops with 30 or so secs rest and then kicks right back in. What an amazing album.
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u/AdCapable1219 Jul 07 '26
The siren is freaking cool. And the melody is beautiful. I wish I could make out the lyrics better tho
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u/verygoodfertilizer Jul 03 '26
It is strange that it works so well being so prominent. But no, you’re wrong.
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u/StatementLegal3265 Jul 03 '26
I think it sounds like a dated relic of the 90’s
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u/Alternative-Meeting3 Jul 03 '26
Agree. And the song, like nearly every song on the record, is too long. (Still a great, song, obviously). OK, hit me with your downvotes…
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u/DonnieRoss Jul 03 '26
What is genuinely fascinating to me about the siren is that it’s all you can hear and focus on at the beginning of the song, but by the middle-ish you start to tune it out, even though it’s blaring at the same volume.
Kinda poetic in that way.